nsa

The National Security Agency (NSA) has told Microsoft about a major Windows 10 bug which also affects Windows Server 2016 and 2019. A patch is already available and is a must install. For the NSA to tell Microsoft about a Windows vulnerability and ... then discuss it publicly is relatively rare. In the past, the NSA has used such security flaws to take advantage of potential suspects, as part of its surveillance program. In this case, the bug was so serious the NSA seems to have concluded any benefits it could gain itself would be more than wiped out by the threat to the general public (and US ... (view more)

The National Security Agency (NSA) is refusing to comment on claims a tool it developed has been used in a ransomware attack on the Baltimore city government. The New York Times says the attackers used a tool called "EternalBlue." The attackers have ... encrypted Baltimore government systems and demanded between $76,000 and $114,440 (depending on the account) to restore access. Officials have refused to pay and used workarounds including some manual processing of files and switching to Gmail for internal communications. It seems the attack was carried out using EternalBlue, which is ... (view more)

Google has developed a new type of encryption that could run on any Android device. It means added security even for the most basic phones, smart watches and smart TVs. The encryption in question isn't for transmitting data, but rather for data ... stored on a device. The data is controlled by unlock methods such as passwords, pin codes and fingerprints. The idea is that if somebody gets hold of a device and doesn't have the correct login credentials, they can't simply extract files from the device and access personal data. At the moment Android devices with encryption use Advanced Encryption ... (view more)

Microsoft has issued three updates to fix flaws in older, unsupported versions of Windows. It's an unusual move that follows the discovery that both the National Security Agency (NSA) and outside hackers are exploiting the flaws , similar to the one ... that allowed the WannaCry Ransomware worm to spread just a few weeks ago. The updates cover both Windows and Windows Server editions going right back to XP . They'll be issued through the usual automated updates, which means people on Windows 8.1 and later shouldn't need to do anything. Those on earlier systems may need to manually ... (view more)

The National Security Agency (NSA) is to revise a controversial program that let it read emails from US citizens without a warrant. It also says it will delete many of the messages it collected in this way. The program has been dubbed "Section 702 ... activities", named after the relevant part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Such activities are significant because they are an exception to the general principle that the NSA doesn't carry out surveillance within the US, something that would normally bring constitutional rights to privacy into play. Section 702 allowed ... (view more)

Microsoft says it's patched most of the recently revealed security flaws said to have been used by the National Security Agency (NSA) for spying. But the incident is a reminder not to rely on unsupported editions of Windows such as Windows XP and ... Vista. Windows Vista officially reached its end of extended support April 11, 2017 . A group calling itself "Shadow Brokers" is trying to auction what it says is a set of tools that the NSA were using for surveillance by taking advantage of security failings in widely used software. While that's a bold claim - particularly as it means ... (view more)

Microsoft says its customers in Europe can now store data online in a way US security services can't access. It's a surprising and potentially controversial move from an American technology giant. The move follows a recent European ruling which ... means US firms can no longer ignore local regulations on data privacy. According to Microsoft, this affects data customers in 32 European countries connected to Internet-based Microsoft applications, including Office 365. Data Accessed Only In Specific Circumstances The data will be stored in two data centers in Germany, controlled by local ... (view more)

President Obama has signed a law that will limit the government's power to collect data from the public's online and telephone activities. The USA Freedom Act should make it harder for officials to simply collect data in bulk. The Act replaces the ... measures in the 2001 Patriot Act , which extended the government's surveillance powers as a response to the September 11 attacks . That led to the National Security Agency launching a program by which it effectively collected as much data as possible and held on to it so that it could then look back for details on particular individuals ... (view more)

The US government is being sued by civil liberties groups who say the security services' collection of personal data online fundamentally breaches the constitution. At issue is the question of whether or not the government's interpretation of the ... law correctly allows for mass surveillance without probable cause about specific individuals. The lawsuit is led by the American Civil Liberties Union and is joined by at least nine other groups, including the organization that oversees Wikipedia. It makes the accusations against the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of ... (view more)

The US government has been accused of embedding spyware directly onto hard drives using secret manufacturer information. Russian security software manufacturer Kaspersky Lab made the claims, and stem from its efforts to find and eliminate malicious ... software. Kaspersky says officials appear to have only used the spyware to target specific, foreign-based individuals. Kaspersky says that the spyware is part of an operation controlled by the National Security Agency (NSA) , under the name Equation Group. It claims the NSA figured out how to put spying software in the firmware of hard drives made ... (view more)